Figure caption, Matthew Rhys, who grew up in Cardiff, made history at the Emmy Awards, becoming the first person to win two lead acting prizes in one night
Hollywood actor Matthew Rhys has made history at the Emmys by becoming the first person to win two lead acting prizes in one night.
He was named best lead actor in a limited series for the psychological thriller The Beast In Me , and best lead actor in a comedy for his role in Widow's Bay .
Rhys told BBC Wales that receiving the double honour had been a "complete out of the body experience" which "still feels as surreal as it was last night".
He described being in "abject terror" as he was called to collect his awards in the presence of "heroes" like Gary Oldman.
And he said he was too intimidated being in the presence of iconic actor Harrison Ford on Monday evening to tell him that he was to voice his legendary Star Wars character Han Solo as the movie is being dubbed into Welsh for the first time.
Here are five things you may not already know about the history-making 51-year-old - and why he's currently letting his beard grow so bushy.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Kathleen Turner and Matthew Rhys in the West End production of The Graduate in 2000
At the start of his career, Rhys was so desperate for work he considered joining the British Army.
In 2000, he starred alongside American actress Kathleen Turner in the West End production of The Graduate.
But for nearly two years afterwards he couldn't find work.
So he met an army officer who he said was "incredibly suspicious" of him because he was an actor, and told him "we'll be in touch".
Rhys said: "Then about a week later, I got a rejection letter from the British Army saying, 'thank you for your interest, good luck in your career'.
"And I went, 'oh my God, I can't even join the army'."
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Ioan Gruffudd, left, and Matthew Rhys have been friends since school
In 2006, Rhys moved to Hollywood and surrounded himself with fellow Welsh actors - including Michael Sheen and Ioan Gruffudd.
He lived with Newport-born Sheen and schoolfriend Gruffudd. He and Gruffudd both attended Welsh medium school Ysgol Glantaf in Cardiff.
In an interview in The Big Issue Cymru in 2003 , Rhys said the pair did not see each other often, despite living under the same roof, as they were both busy working.
He affectionately called their group the "LA Tafia".
In 2012, Rhys told The Independent newspaper how the trio would speak Welsh to one another, dream of good fish and chips and watch rugby together in a British pub.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Rhys and Russell have a son, Sam
Rhys met Keri Russell in Los Angeles at a kickball game in 2002, where he asked for her phone number.
During an interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Rhys explained that he had left a drunken message on Russell's answer machine following the meeting, which he did not remember doing.
Rhys said Russell did not find the message charming "in the slightest" so did not return his call.
A decade later, the pair finally became an item when they starred together in the TV series The Americans in 2013.
They played a married couple who were Russian spies from 2013-2018.
Rhys and Russell were a couple from 2014 and had their son, Sam, in 2016. Rhys has previously told the BBC he speaks Welsh to Sam in the hope he will understand the language fo…